Murder trial next week for son accused in mother’s death

Allan Aloan Agababa approaches the bench during a hearing at the Superior Court of Guam in September 2013. Agababa is accused of murdering his mother, Shelly Bernstein, in her Tamuning apartment.(Photo: PDN file photo)

A new jury will be chosen next Tuesday for the murder trial of 30-year-old Allan Aloan Agababa, who is charged with aggravated murder in his mother’s death.

Shelly June Bernstein in August 2013 was found in her Tamuning apartment. She reportedly died from blunt force trauma to her head, above her right brow, according to Pacific Daily News files.

This will be the second time Agababa’s case is presented to a jury. The judge in 2014 declared the first trial a mistrial after jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous decision.

The first trial lasted about 15 days.

While the prosecution isn't expecting to introduce any new evidence or any new witnesses, according to Assistant Attorney General Jeremiah Luther, Judge Maria Cenzon still has to decide if forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen’s testimony in the first trial will be part of the new trial.

Unlike the first trial, Cohen won’t be able to testify in person. Cohen, during the first trial, cast doubt on the cause of death, saying he is not certain Bernstein's death was a homicide. Cohen testified that blunt-force trauma possibly contributed to her death, but he questioned whether it was the primary cause.

Luther argued against having Cohen's recorded testimony played in the new trial, but defense attorney Curtis Van de veld said there shouldn’t be any restriction on using Cohen's previous testimony.

Van de veld said last week he received Guam chief medical examiner Dr. Aurelio Espinola's amended autopsy report, in which Espinola changed his position on fentanyl in Bernstein's system, according to Van de veld.